big dark town

There's a big dark town, it's a place I've foundThere's a world going on undergroundThey're alive, they're awakeWhile the rest of the world is asleep

- Tom Waits, Underground

invisible city

snowdays

I don’t like snow.

Some of my friends are sure it’s because I grew up in Hawai‘i; others are certain there’s some traumatic experience in my past that’s to blame. But there are plenty of people from Hawai‘i who spend all winter skiing, and so far as I know there’s no deep hidden trauma keeping me from enjoying the delights inherent in frozen water falling from the sky and covering the land with a death-blanket of icy horror. Perhaps I’m just being unfair.

Regardless, living in Seattle, I don’t often have to deal with snow beyond a few hours of annoyance, which suits me well. Usually snow in the morning turns to rain by the afternoon and the whole thing washes away in a few hours. This made it all the more shocking when Seattle spent two weeks in December of 2008 largely immobilized by an embarrassingly small amount of snow. At the same time, I was on vacation for a few weeks after a difficult few months at my day job, and had been planning to spend part of that time roaming around the city relaxing and making photos.

It’s a cliché to describe one’s art as therapy, but in this case it’s completely true. Getting the frustration I felt out of my head and into my camera was the healthiest thing I could have done under the circumstances.

Portraits

A collection of photos of friends, family, coworkers, and friends who are circus freaks.

Indie film

Through one connection or another I’ve spent some time over the years shooting production stills for independent films in Seattle.

The benefit to me, of course, was getting to photograph the production itself, which is always a rich opportunity to make interesting photos.

Lalibela, Ethiopia

In January of 2014, I visited the Ethiopian city of Lalibela. We were there over the Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas celebration, when tens of thousands of pilgrims filled the streets and churches.

I put together a Magcloud publication called Christmas in Lalibela that goes into much more detail about the history of Lalibela, the experience of being there, and my personal concerns about objectification.

You could certainly purchase a copy of if you like; however, you can also read the whole thing online, absolutely free.

Laos

In February of 2015 I got to spend a few weeks traveling around Laos. The country was beautiful, the cities were amazing, and the people were gracious and friendly. And, it turns out, obsessed with bocce.

fogtown

Memorial Day weekend, 2017. Pacific Beach, Washington. While Seattle had a glorious, unseasonably warm and sunny weekend, we experienced three days of some of the thickest fog I’ve ever seen. As a beach trip it was kind of a wash, but photographically, I couldn’t have been happier.

Lalibela 2018

In January of 2018, I went back to Lalibela for the Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas celebration.

The last time I was there, most of my photos were about trying to describe how the place looks. This time, I wanted to communicate how the place feels to me.

It’s hard for me to put into words how wonderful, overwhelming, and magical of an experience it is. These photos are an attempt to get at how it felt to me to be there, in ancient churches, filled with 50,000 pilgrims.